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Bushes headline Dallas first ladies conference

Former President George W. Bush, front, walks back to his seat Monday after introducing first ladies Laura Bush, left, and Barbara Bush, second from left, with moderator Doris Kearns Goodwin during a panel that was part of the conference "America's First Ladies: An Enduring Vision," at SMU.

First Lady Barbara Bush, center, making a joke pretends to drop with Laura Bush and moderator Doris Kearns Goodwin looking on during a panel that was part of the conference "America's First Ladies: An Enduring Vision," at SMU in Dallas, Monday, March 5, 2012. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

CORRECTS NAME TO BESS ABELL NOT BESS HALL Bess Abell, White House Social Secretary for Lady Bird Johnson, tells a humorous story about her days in the White House during a panel of the conference "America's First Ladies: An Enduring Vision," at SMU in Dallas, Monday, March 5, 2012. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

President George W. Bush, right, introduces a panel consisting of his wife Laura Bush, left, his mother Barbara Bush, center left, and moderator Doris Kearns Goodwin as part of the conference "America's First Ladies: An Enduring Vision," at SMU in Dallas, Monday, March 5, 2012. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

First Lady Laura Bush tells a story during a panel that was part of the conference "America's First Ladies: An Enduring Vision," at SMU in Dallas, Monday, March 5, 2012. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

RETRANSMISSION OF TXMO107 FOR ALTERNATE CROP - First Lady Barbara Bush, center, laughs, with Laura Bush and moderator Doris Kearns Goodwin during a panel that was part of the conference "America's First Ladies: An Enduring Vision," at SMU in Dallas, Monday, March 5, 2012. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

First Lady Laura Bush tells a story during a panel that was part of the conference "America's First Ladies: An Enduring Vision," at SMU in Dallas, Monday, March 5, 2012.

DALLAS — Laura Bush and her mother-in-law, Barbara, talked about life in the White House — from the joys of having their own chefs to making the landmark their home — and briefly dipped into current politics at a conference on first ladies on Monday.

Barbara Bush told about 300 people attending the conference hosted by the George W. Bush Presidential Center that the current campaign is the worst she’s seen.

“I hate the fact that people think compromise is a dirty word. It is not a dirty word,” she said.

Former President George W. Bush introduced his wife and mother at the event held on the campus of Southern Methodist University, where the presidential center is under construction.

“I have the honor of introducing the best first lady ever,” Bush said, pausing as his wife and mother each pointed at the other. Then he continued, “Mom, would you take a tie?”

“Obviously, I don’t mind being surrounded by strong women. I was raised by one, I married one, and I believe we’re raising two,” he said.

The conference featured a discussion with historians on the influence of first ladies throughout history, a panel on the role of social secretaries to first ladies and a discussion by photographers about documenting the women.

The conference was a collaboration between the White House Historical Association, American University and the National Archives, which oversees presidential libraries.

Similar conferences focusing on other first ladies are being planned, including one set for the fall on Lady Bird Johnson at her husband’s presidential library in Austin, said Anita McBride, who served as Laura Bush’s chief of staff in the White House and chaired the conference. Laura Bush and Barbara Bush were also featured at a similar event last year at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station.

“Not every place has a living first lady,” said McBride, now an executive-in-residence at the school of public affairs at American University in Washington. “The idea is to take components of the program to match the interests of the libraries.”

After Barbara Bush’s comments on the current political season, Laura Bush talked about seeing cartoons critical of Abraham Lincoln, and commented, “You realize it is just kind of part of American politics.”

“You’re much kinder than I am,” Barbara Bush said. “I think the rest of the world is looking at us and thinking, ‘What are you doing? Why aren’t you getting along?’”

The Bushes mainly talked about life in the White House, with Barbara Bush recalling a special fondness for her office.

“I loved my little office because it was — besides being Nancy Reagan’s beauty parlor, which she didn’t like me to say, but it was — the dogs were born here and you could look out the window at Jackson Place and Lafayette Square and you could see all sorts of wonderful things,” Barbara Bush said.

Laura Bush, who restored the Lincoln bedroom, said that while at the White House, she thought a lot about other presidencies.

“You think of all the challenges that other presidents faced and that our country faced and how we overcame all of those challenges,” she said.

“You live with these effects of all the people who lived there before you,” she said. “You live with their decorating. You live with their taste. Their choice in furniture or china or decorative arts.”

MISSION — Hundreds of protesters wearing white and chanting in English and Spanish marched Saturday in Texas’ first major protest against a border wall, crossing the earthen Rio Grande levee where President Donald Trump’s administration wants to build part of the first phase.